


Discord Mini-Events

by SilenceIsGolden15



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aromantic Asexual Keith (Voltron), Aromantic Keith (Voltron), Asexual Keith (Voltron), Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Panic Attacks, Shiro (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Trauma, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2019-10-27 09:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17763914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilenceIsGolden15/pseuds/SilenceIsGolden15
Summary: A place to hold pieces for the little events happening in my Keith Discord.





	1. Heartache

**Author's Note:**

> Holy repressed emotions batman.

Keith was irritated. 

It wasn’t an unfamiliar emotion. Far from it. But while his irritation was usually reserved for a single person or incident, today it was pointed towards the entire world. 

Because today was Valentine’s day. 

He’d never paid that much attention to the holiday before. He’d observed the other kids in his school running around with chocolate in red boxes and heart shaped balloons an interrupting classes to buy each other flower-grams and seen it all with a sort of detached disinterest.

After all, they were in elementary school. None of these kids were actually in love-- they were just imitating how adults acted on this holiday. Whatever. Not worth his time. 

But this year was different. 

With the Garrison being such a military institution Keith had been expecting more discipline surrounding it, maybe an altogether ban. But that wasn’t the case; sure they weren’t being interrupted by flower-grams, but kids were still rushing back to their dorms to hide their bundles of roses or tiny stuffed animals clutching little red and pink hearts. Even some of the professors had vases of flowers on their desks and moons in their eyes. 

By all rights he shouldn’t have cared. Nothing made it different from any other Valentines Day, except for the undercurrent of envy twining through him. 

Keith didn’t want what the other kids had. Far from it. The idea of a romantic relationship made his stomach twist. No, what irritated him was the fact that Shiro had a boyfriend, who would be demanding all of his attention. 

It was selfish, he knew that. Shiro split his time every other day of the year. He shouldn’t have a problem with letting them have their day together. And after all, Adam had had Shiro first. 

But he couldn’t help it. The knowledge that Shiro would be fawning over Adam all day without a thought for him made him go cold in a way he couldn’t understand. So he masked it with anger, if only to keep himself from frostbite. 

He went through the day like a storm cloud. That, he didn’t feel bad about; everyone else was too lost in their pink glow to notice him. Which was fine. It’s  _ fine.  _ Who wanted to dwell on the grumpy emo kid when they could be smooching their significant other instead. 

He tried to throw himself into his classes to distract himself from the pit in his stomach that kept spewing forth black clouds and lightning that tasted like ozone on his tongue. 

But it was hard, and during lunch a mere glance around the mess hall broke his concentration. 

Everyone was paired off. His classmates were barely fourteen for God’s sake, but still they sat close to each other in their chairs, as close to being in each others laps as the overseeing teachers would allow, twining locks of hair around fingers and planting sticky kisses on cheeks. In the other corners of the room lurked others, people like him who had no place in the pink sea of rose petals and had been left to drown, and realization made him sick. 

He would always be second best. He had no desire to seek out a romantic partner, none of those stirrings or butterflies or any of the other nonsense the stories and songs talked about. But as long as he didn’t he would never be first in someone’s heart. Everyone else would find someone they loved more, that they cherished above anything or anyone else. And he would always be just like this-- second best, and alone. 

Hell, even his father-- if his mom had come back, that love would’ve trumped all else. He’d grown up watching his father stare longingly up at the stars, sadly into his coffee, lost in the memories of a type of love Keith wasn’t capable of. 

The splatter of a tear on the table top jarred him from his thoughts, and he frantically wiped away the wetness he hadn’t noticed growing on his cheeks. 

_ God, pull yourself together, idiot.  _

It took him five minutes to stifle the flow, and by then he was sure his eyes were red, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that. At least he could be content in the fact everyone else would be too busy looking at each other to notice. 

“Hey, Keith.” 

He jolted at the sudden voice, shocked and surprised at the face he found when he looked up.

“Oh, Shiro, hey.” His voice was raspy, and he cleared his throat as Shiro settled onto the bench across from him. “I thought you’d be eating with Adam today.”

Shiro gave a soft smile that made Keith’s fists clench under the table. 

“We just finished up. I was hoping to catch you before your next class.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. It felt like a performance, a mask of his usual behavior to cover up his sudden hollowness in the torso, but he did his best. 

“Yeah? Why?”

Shiro’s expression turned sly, and he reached down to his feet before straightening and depositing something on the table between them. 

It was a tiny bear, maybe the size of Shiro’s hand. It’s fur was deep red, it’s paws and ears tipped in pearly white, holding a little plush heart between its front paws. Thankfully it was too small to have one of those terrible puns sewn on it. 

“It’s cute,” Keith said flatly, “Adam will like it.”

Shiro blinked, then his lips quirked. “It’s not for Adam, Keith.”

His brow furrowed. What did he mean, not for Adam? It was a Valentines Day bear, who else could it be for? Was Shiro dating someone else Keith didn’t know about?

Shiro watched him struggle for a moment, then sat forward with a soft, slightly sad chuckle and nudged the bear a little closer to him. 

“It’s for you.”

Keith’s mind blanked out.

No. 

Nope.

Does not compute. 

Error 404. 

Keith.exe has stopped working. 

“But…” he managed to say eventually, “but it’s… and we’re not… today’s about  _ love.” _

Shiro’s grin was crooked. “There’s more than one type of love.”

He found himself shaking his head, even as his chest began to ache with how much his heart was swelling. 

“Not today. Today’s not-- it’s not--”

“Hey,” said Shiro, his eyes softening, “it’s ok. It doesn’t have to be just for couples. Friends are just as important.”

“But… but I didn’t get you anything.” His voice came out desperate and any other time he would’ve been embarrassed, but right now he was too confused. 

“It’s fine-- I wanted this to be a surprise.”

Well, he was all out of excuses. With an unsettled gulp, he reached out for the little plushie, taking it as gently as he knew how into his hands. The fur was beautifully soft-- he barely kept from rubbing it against his cheek. 

Suddenly he was blinking back more tears as he stared into the bears little glass eyes. 

“Thank you,” he said, squeezing it gently between his fingers. “Thank you, Shiro.”

“No problem, bud.”

Keith carried the bear with him for the rest of the day, tucked into his backpack, reaching down every so often to brush his fingers over it’s fur. And that evening, when both Shiro and his roommate were off on their romantic dates, he tucked himself into the corner of his bunk and read a book that had been gathering dust on his desk, the little red bear secure in his lap.

That night, he went to bed with a smile on his face. 


	2. Try, Try Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A life ends, and something new begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is for the prompt from my discord: new beginnings. Hope you guys enjoy.

Keith strode over the puddle with one big step. It was mostly a pointless endeavor since the ends of his too-long sweatpants were already soaked to the ankles, but he made the effort anyway. His backpack jolted its weight against his shoulders, the drums in his headphones drowning out the violent thumping of his heart. He’d hesitated before taking the music player (would it be considered stealing?) but had eventually tucked it into his hoodie pocket. Mr. Kenneth had bought it for him, anyway. 

The train station was eerie in the dark and the rain. Keith purchased his ticket from the machine with cash and moved to stand at the proper platform to wait, his head bowed in an attempt to keep the wind from blowing into his hood and the rain out of his eyes. There were a few other shapes waiting with him, but none gave him a second glance. So he stood and tried not to shiver as he waited.

Something about it made his chest ache-- wait, no, not something. He knew exactly.

It was Mr. Kenneth, laying in a hospital bed, chest still without the machine to move it for him.

Though it had been hours since his mad dash home, the adrenaline was still filtering from his system. Along with it was the stain of disbelief-- In December Mr. Kenneth was sitting with him under the Christmas tree, watching him open the adoption papers with shining eyes.

And now he was gone. 

Keith shuddered and tried to banish the thought, but it still clung to him, the way the smell of cigarette smoke had clung to Mr. Kenneth’s clothes. Unpleasant at first, but safe. Comforting.

From the speakers over his head came a chime, and a woman’s voice began to speak, carefully inflected to sound human but failing. 

“All passengers on the Plaht Metro are required to have a destination. Thank you.”

Keith’s lip quirked. Technically he did have a destination-- the end of the line. Away from whatever foster family the system would have tossed him in next. Away from the mocking remnants of Mr. Kenneth’s warm hands. 

He should’ve seen it coming.

Fending that thought off as well with a shake of his head, Keith distracted himself by peering up and down the track. No train yet.

He shifted his shoulders and deepened their hunch against the wind. His music pulsed steadily in his ears, all drums and guitars. 

He knew running away was the best decision. There was only one downside that he could see: he wouldn’t be able to attend the Garrison. Mr. Kenneth had been so happy after that simulator test with Shiro-- he’d insisted tuition would be no question and eagerly filled out the forms to enroll him. 

But once again, the universe felt inclined to take from him. 

He clenched his cold fingers in his pockets with a huff. 

“Keith?” he heard over his music, and his head snapped up to find none other than Captain Shirogane standing at his side. His bangs were sodden from the rain and stuck to his forehead, but he stood as though the wind and rain didn’t even touch him, nonchalance in every muscle. 

“Wh--what are you doing here?”

Shiro could’ve countered that, asked why a twelve year old was at a train station at night alone, but he didn’t. He just shrugged a shoulder. 

“This is how I get home.”

Keith raised a brow. “But you have a car.” He’d know-- he was the one who jacked it, after all. 

Shiro laughed. “That’s the Garrison’s car, not mine. I just get to use it when I go out on business.”

Keith gave a half interested hum and said nothing, hoping that would be the end of the discussion, but to his chagrin Shiro continued.

“So what’re  _ you  _ doing here?”

He shrank into his hoodie distrustfully, and his voice came out far more rough than he’d expected it to.

“What’s it to you?”

It was antagonistic, but Shiro didn’t react besides raising his hands from his pockets in a peace gesture. 

“Not my business, apparently.”

For the next minute or two there was silence, only the patter and drip of rain and the slush of passing cars breaking it. Keith shivered against his will, the February chill sinking into his bones. He felt Shiro’s eyes on him, but thankfully he didn’t do something terrible like offer him his coat. 

Instead he said, “Hey, are you busy? My boyfriend is making dinner tonight, and he’s been dying to meet you.”

Keith froze, and after a second of sheet panic, carefully swallowed. 

“Um… I can’t, I’ve got… a thing.”

It was the weakest lie he’d ever told. Shiro didn’t call him on it. 

“Alright. You mind if I ride with you till my stop?”

Clearly he hoped Keith would change his mind, and while that irritated him a little, he decided it wouldn’t be too terrible, so he bobbed his head in silent assent, just as the train flew into the station. 

Shiro took the seat next to him, somehow unfazed by the harsh lighting, and after shaking out his wet bangs started up a conversation. Keith was listening more to his music than to Shiro, staring down at his fingers which were red to the last knuckle with the cold and were beginning to tingle. 

Ten minutes into their ride and Shiro mentioned his stop was next. Keith grunted, completely intending to let Shiro get off the train alone and walk out of his life forever. Then, suddenly, he caught a snippet of the song he was listening to. 

_ Losing the daylight, but I must admit _

_ That you’re suited for this lie _

With a sniffle (that was definitely from the cold and not from tears, nope) Keith lowered his headphones to rest around his neck. Shiro, noticing the motion, paused in his statement.

Keith took a minute to settle himself. Then: “Mr. Kenneth died today.”

Shiro blinked. His eyes crinkled when he frowned. 

“That’s terrible, Keith.” Then he gave him a once over, like he was seeing him in a new light. “Are you sure about dinner? You look like you could use some company.”

That made Keith shrink back. “I’m fine on my own.”

Shiro sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making the wet strands stand on end. 

“That came out wrong. What I meant is-- no one should have to be alone after losing someone.”

Keith considered that for a long moment. 

And when the train stopped, he followed Shiro off of it, the stub of his one-way ticket forgotten in his hoodie pocket. 


	3. Boom Goes the Dynamite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time, and Keith's forgotten, but there was a time when explosions meant certain death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the 'comfort' square on my Discord server's bingo card, and inspired by a Tumblr drabble by @whumptron.

After so many years flying around the universe, meeting all sorts of aliens from all sorts of cultures, one would think it would be impossible to find one similarity between every species. After all, wasn’t it inconceivable that the diversity of the universe could summed up in one trait? 

Whether mathematically possible or not, there was in fact one single thing that applied to absolutely every species in the known universe. 

All of them, after a victory, liked to party. 

And humans were no exception. 

It was barely a week after Voltron’s victory over Sendak that the first celebration was thrown, and they’d only waited that long so that the injured Paladins could attend. Unfortunately there wouldn’t be much food there, with food supplies still low and recovering from the occupation, but the personnel of the Garrison had managed to scrounge up some instruments, and the engineers (probably under Pidge’s tutelage) had put together some bespoke fireworks. 

Keith could remember a time when he would’ve dreaded an event like this. Lots of people who all wanted to talk to him, lots of noise, not a lot of room to breathe-- before the Quantum Abyss he would’ve hated it. 

Things were different now. Not so different-- he still got overwhelmed with sounds and still found himself guessing through most social interactions, but at least now he knew when to give himself a break. 

That said, he was actually looking forward to the party. It had been a long time since the Paladins had been able to just have fun without the threat of the Empire breathing down their necks. It would be good for them all to have some time off.

God he sounded like Shiro. 

The event started at six p.m., out on the tarmac where just days before jets had been taking off and missiles fired. The setting sun painted the desert gold, warm wind ruffled hair, and all around people were smiling and laughing, carefree for the first time in… well, he wasn’t clear on that. Time had been doing strange things lately.

The Paladins arrived together, along with Shiro and Coran, and the moment they appeared the whole not-inconsiderable crowd burst into cheers and applause. It was unexpected, and Keith felt himself flush as red as the new jacket the Garrison had given him. Amongst the adoring masses were a few familiar faces: Acxa, Kolivan, the MFE pilots, and (as Keith noted with a smile to himself) his mother. 

Pidge didn’t wait to address the crowd, she just raced forward and plunged into them to search out her family. Hunk joined Keith in his slightly awkward waving, while Shiro, Coran, and Allura did it with much more practiced finesse. Lance, as predicted, soaked up all the attention like a dried-out sponge. 

Thankfully, after a few seconds more of cheering, the crowd quieted down and let them join the festivities. Keith quickly found himself surrounded by the Galra, all wearing slightly uncomfortable expressions. 

Still, Krolia smiled and came forward to give him a hug, and Kolivan shot him a warm glance. 

“It’s good to see you up and about,” said Acxa as she sipped from the cup in her hand. “The five of you had everybody pretty worried.”

“Yeah, well,” he answered with a shrug, “It’s an occupational hazard.”

The next half an hour or so he spent with them, none of them speaking much, but they were the kind of people who didn’t mind silence. Slowly the sun sank behind the red cliffs, and the air around them cooled a few degrees in the process, until Keith was glad he’d worn his Garrison jacket after all.

Then, when the sky was barely tinged mauve at the edges and stars sparkled over their heads, all of the milling celebrants congregated in the center of the runway, ready for the fireworks show. 

It was then that the others found their way back to each other, until all of them were gathered in one big lump in the center of the crowd. Here and there were scattered voices in raised volume, like there were several people all trying to start a speech at once, but apparently no one wanted to hear them. They were all waiting for the fireworks. 

If he looked hard enough, Keith could just barely see the little shadows where people were lighting the first fuse. He watched the little red dot burn up and up and up, then there was the little whistling  _ whoosh  _ as the charge took flight. Up and up and up. 

The projectile hung in the air for a moment, as though suspended, and the whole crowd of voices went hushed, waiting for the first bloom. Keith watched as eagerly as the rest of them. It had been so long since he’d last seen legitimate, Earth fireworks. 

The colors erupted into falling sparks, red and orange against the navy blue of the sky. Keith’s breath came in quick, he wasn’t sure why, and then the sound hit. The great big  _ boom,  _ like a percussion beat in his chest, and his heart skipped a beat.

The next thing he knew he was on the ground, staring at his mother’s legs. That was all he registered before getting swept up in the rest of it; shivering at the cold sweat that had drenched him, his teeth chattering, his skin thrumming numbly, the tightening of panic in his chest. 

Another explosion went off,  _ boom,  _ and Keith jolted, his hands leaping up to his ears. But no, that wasn’t right, he was forgetting something--

_ Boom.  _ Some kind of sound escaped him as he ducked his head. He didn’t know what was happening or where this sudden fear had come from. All he knew was that he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, and he  _ had  _ to move, he had to be fast enough, if he wasn’t fast enough--

_ Boom.  _

If he wasn’t fast enough he was going to die. Him and--

_ Boom.  _

\-- Shiro was going to die--

_ Boom. _

He was alone, he’d made a mistake, and he couldn’t move and they were all going to--

“Hey!”

His eyes, though he didn’t know when he had closed them, snapped open. His sight was blurry, but he could make out a lean, purple face. 

“Keith,” said Acxa. Her voice sounded strained, like she was shouting, but then why did she feel so far away? “Keith, focus. Focus on me.”

Keith swallowed hard. He half expected another bomb to go off, was prepared to duck and cover again, but no such sound came. If there were any others they were drowned out by the roaring in his ears. 

“Hey,” she put a hand on his shaking shoulder, making him meet her eyes. “Focus.”

The thought made its shaky way across his mind.

_ Patience yields focus. _

“Are you with me?” He managed a nod. “Ok, good, now deep breaths. Ready? In on one--”

Keith followed the instructions robotically, never once taking his eyes from Acxa’s. He wasn’t sure how, but she was safe. She’d save him. After all, she’d saved him last time…

Finally, after a million years, he heard another voice at his side. Krolia, soothingly counting along with Acxa for him to breathe to and running a hand through his hair. That time when he inhaled he noticed the scent of gunpowder.

He jerked forward, shoving Acxa away from him just as he retched onto the pavement.  

Then the exhaustion set into his muscles, and everything after was a blur. 

* * *

 

The Paladins beat a hasty retreat from the party. Krolia, Kolivan, and Acxa tried to convince them to stay, to save face, but absolutely none of them were having it. Keith had just experienced a severe flashback, leading into a panic attack, and none of them were about to ignore that in favor of watching a pretty lights show. 

They all crowded into Keith’s bunk with him. He was conscious, and when Krolia gently pushed him onto the bed and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, he went without fighting. But he just stared through them without acknowledgement-- all of them but Acxa, whom he focused on with unusual intensity. 

Shiro was worried and confused, and for once he wasn’t the only one. 

“What was he reacting to?” asked Pidge, fiddling nervously with her glasses. “I mean, obviously it was the fireworks, but what happened that traumatized him? I can’t remember anything. Except maybe the crystal blowing up in the Castle, but Keith wasn’t even there, and--”

Krolia cut off her rambling with a raised hand. She was sitting at Keith’s side, an arm wrapped around him. 

“I remember something from the flashes in the Quantum Abyss. It was a Blade mission,” all of their eyes turned to Kolivan’s solemn expression, “There were bombs on pillars, all of them counting down, and then explosions.”

The Galra blinked a few times, then his mouth ever so slightly curved into a frown. 

“I believe I know which mission this was. Shortly after Lotor’s alliance with Voltron, I sent a small team to sabotage the Kral Zera. Keith was on it.”

“Keith was at the Kral Zera?” murmured Hunk, probably to himself, before Allura spoke up in a sharp tone.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this?”

Kolivan shrugged. “Didn’t seem relevant.” His voice was gruff, but Shiro suspected he was more affected than he let on. “Their task was to place explosions beneath the altar platform that would detonate in the midst of the claims. But when Shiro arrived in the Black Lion,”  _ What?,  _ “Keith tried to call of the mission. His partners chose to leave rather than put themselves in danger.”

“Wait wait wait,” Shiro interrupted, now that he’d gotten his voice back from the bafflement, “I don’t remember any of this. What’s a Kral Zera?”

The Paladins exchanged guilty glances, and the realization hit him like a punch in the gut. 

“This was with the clone, wasn’t it?” The question was flat and about sixty percent rhetorical, but Lance and Hunk still nodded anyway, and Allura looked away. Shiro let out a shaky breath and focused on the feeling of his nails digging into his palm to keep himself from going down the same spiral as Keith. 

“I saved him.”

The words were quiet, but still drew all of their eyes down to Acxa. 

“Huh?” Lance said, and in any other circumstances Shiro would’ve laughed.

“I was there too,” Acxa continued. She was kneeling on the floor before Keith, one of his hands clasped in her own. “He was fighting one of the other claimants, I don’t remember which, and he lost his blade. They were going to kill him, and I stopped them.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence after that. None of them really knew how to answer to such a statement, and Keith still seemed practically catatonic. 

Until the shivering returned, and his chattering teeth parted for a few difficult words.

“I--I’m so-so-sorry,” he stammered, shaking like a leaf and a few dazed tears escaping him. 

With an astonished look on his face, Hunk asked, “Sorry for what?” 

Keith pulled the blanket closer around him. “F-for messing u-up the pa-arty.”

“You didn’t mess it up,” answered Shiro, automatically. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Acxa,” said Keith, apparently ignoring him. Shiro tried not to feel stung. “I never said th-thank you.”

“There’s no need.” Axca withdrew her hand and straightened up, allowing Krolia to pull her son a bit further into her side. “You’ve done the same for me.”

Keith’s attention next jumped to Shiro. His eyes were still glazed with tears and the remainders of confused fear, and it made his heart ache. Is this what he looked like after a flashback? God, no wonder everyone was always so gentle with him. 

“Shiro, you’re ok?” 

It took him a moment to realize it was a question, not a statement, but when he did he nodded quickly. 

“Yeah Keith, I’m just fine.”

At that Keith seemed to go lax. His shoulders lost their tension, and his swollen eyelids drooped. Shiro could relate-- flashbacks were absolutely exhausting. 

“Come on, guys,” said Pidge, already tugging Hunk out the door, “Let’s let him calm down.”

One by one the other Paladins, followed by Coran, vacated the room. None of the Galra looked like they were inclined to leave, but Shiro took a minute before exiting just the same, lightly resting a hand on Keith’s shoulder until he looked up.

“I’m right next door if you need me,” he said, softly, and Keith gave a groggy nod. If his attacks were anything like Shiro’s, he’d be foggy for the next few hours. Shiro would seek him out after, probably tomorrow, to see if he wanted to talk about it. 

As he was walking out the door he heard a quiet sound-- a familiar one. He turned his head just in time to see Kosmo teleport into the room and directly into Keith’s lap, knocking him back against the bed. And Keith laughed.

It was small and quiet and shaken, but he laughed, and that was enough for Shiro to be reassured. 

Keith would be alright. 

  
  
  



End file.
